


The Wreckage of the Resolute

by adroitstories



Series: The Adventures of Force Ghost Clones [2]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Post Episode: s07e12 Victory and Death, messing with vader au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:20:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25206859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adroitstories/pseuds/adroitstories
Summary: Vader finds the wreckage of the Resolute on a desolate moon.Part of @its-captain-sir on tumblr's "Messing with Vader AU"
Relationships: CT-21-0408 | Echo & Anakin Skywalker, CT-21-0408 | Echo & CT-5597 | Jesse, CT-27-5555 | Fives | ARC-5555 & Anakin Skywalker, CT-27-5555 | Fives | ARC-5555 & CT-5597 | Jesse
Series: The Adventures of Force Ghost Clones [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1825171
Comments: 11
Kudos: 149





	The Wreckage of the Resolute

The snow crunched beneath his boots. Everything was powder white. His cape whipped in the howling wind. The wreckage of the Resolute stood before him.

He used the Force to feel out for any life signs, and did not find any. There hadn’t been any life here since the crash. The Force gave him feelings on what had happened here—screams, pain, utter despair. He wondered at the power of something as banal as a crashed warship—how it fed the power of the Sith.

But he did feel something else in the Force—a remnant of a presence he’d once known so well. Something familiar—and on the ground—

He saw Fives and Echo by his side, slightly blue and transparent, silently, solemnly, surveying the carnage.

Suddenly Jesse appeared, wild and tearful. “ _Vod’e_!” he cried, hugging them.

“Jesse!” both exclaimed. They all began to cry.

“I tried so hard—I couldn’t stop myself— _vod’e_ , I’m so sorry. You were right, Fives, you were right—” Jesse wept. The man collapsed, overwhelmed with grief, and Fives and Echo knelt next to him. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

Dozens of other _vod’e_ suddenly appeared—troops that Vader had never expected to see again—there was Dar and Theo and Sen and Wicker—there were two presences he didn’t feel—

Echo murmured something to Jesse.

Darth Vader knelt down and found a lightsaber hilt. If it was possible, he would have stopped breathing. It was covered in snow.

“I couldn’t—I’m so sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry—” Jesse hiccoughed. Fives hugged the man tighter. Vader saw the rest of the _vod’e_ also begin to cry, hugging themselves, shaking in pain and rage and hopelessness.

“It’s okay, _vod_ , it’s okay,” Fives soothed him. “It’s all over, now.”

“Were there—” Echo started. “Were there any survivors?”

Vader ignited the saber, a brilliant blue, just like he’d made it for her.

It was the shoto he’d suggested Ahsoka build. His suggestion—he kept them pristine for her—attuned her crystals so they’d match his—taught her Jar’kai—watched her grow—brought her back from the dead—“Are you proud of me, Master?”—always, I am always proud of you, little one—“Focus on your purpose, Ahsoka”—“You’re stuck with me, Skyguy—"

She would never have left her lightsabers.

Vader deactivated the saber. Fives looked at the saber hilt in Vader’s hand. “A Jedi’s lightsaber is their life,” he said softly. He met Vader’s gaze.

How many times had Obi-Wan told him that? How many times had he dropped it, only for Fives or Rex or Ahsoka or Echo or Cody or Tup or Vaughn or Kix or Appo or Jesse to give it back to him, complete with a smile and an eye-roll? How he wanted to hear Obi-Wan say those words again…

If it was possible, Vader would have killed Fives for speaking those words.

Jesse mumbled something.

“What was that, Jesse?” Echo asked gently.

“There were no survivors,” Jesse said, hollowly, no light in his eyes.

He didn’t see their ghosts, but that didn’t mean they were any less gone.

His pain fueled his rage, unspeakable in its intensity. He perceived, rather than saw, some of the wreckage crumble, heard the metal groan, and he heard the familiar sound of duraplast crack—if one of the living troopers died, it was of no consequence to him.

He could see the ghosts of the clones shudder at his sorrow and anger.

“There were no survivors,” Darth Vader announced to the living troopers next to him. He turned on his heel and began walking back to his ship.

Jesse watched the figure of Vader disappear. He was still hiccoughing, tears still streaming out of his eyes. Snot was forever running out of his nose. Fives and Echo were still holding him.

Though he was still grieving, Jesse did manage a wan smile.

“What is it, _vod_?” Echo asked.

Jesse took deep, shuddering breaths.

“I—I lied. Rex made it. So did Ahsoka,” he said, tears still forming in his eyes. Gods, he shot at his brother, his _vod_ —again—but this time he couldn’t stop—he couldn’t stop—

And he sank into his grief again.

**Author's Note:**

> Mando'a Translations:
> 
> Vod'e--siblings  
> vod--sibling
> 
> this work is also known as the gratuitous use of em dashes lmao
> 
> if you have ideas or suggestions, lemme know @vod-iika on tumblr, or send me a dm in my ao3 inbox.
> 
> all credit goes to @its-captain-sir on tumblr for this prompt--having a lot of fun with it so far


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